Rutgers football notebook: Greg Schiano adds ex-player to coaching staff, team makes major decision

Rutgers will not be taking Ohio lightly.

Head coach Greg Schiano talked up the Bobcats, who his Scarlet Knights host in their season opener on Thursday, for five minutes during his pre-game press conference on Monday.

He raved about the offense, which has the fingerprints of OC-turned-head-coach Brian Smith “all over it.” He listed off “remarkable numbers” from quarterback Parker Navarro, who Schiano believes would be playing at Notre Dame “if he were three inches taller.” He marveled at the depth of their wide receiver room and the “non-conventional” runs their running backs are capable of executing.

Schiano was less certain about a defense that is a “little more gray because I’m not exactly sure who’s going to be playing what,” but was equally effusive.

“But as it always goes, it’s going to be about how we perform,“ he said. ”If that’s good enough, then we win. And if it isn’t, then we won’t win. That’s really what it boils down to."

Here are some notes from the rest of Schiano’s press conference on Monday:

Scarlet Knights are a ‘work in progress’ defensively

Barring a “catastrophe of injuries,” Schiano believes Rutgers will have “a really good football team, if we get better every day, by the end of the year.” But he is also confident that the Scarlet Knights are “not close to being where we will be mid-season right now — especially on defense."

“Defensively, we’re a work in progress,” he said. “Because we have new faces, we have new coaches. We’ve tried to accelerate as much as we can, but I’m a realist when I look at it.”

Offensive tackle decision coming soon

Rutgers is “close, if not done” in making decisions on starters at both offensive tackle and running back, Schiano said. On the offensive line, the competitors are the same as they’ve been through camp — “the people are going to be the people” — but the Scarlet Knights “just have to make a decision.”

What seems certain: Rutgers will play “more guys on the o-line than we have in the past.”

“Because of two reasons,” Schiano said. “One, we think we have some guys that are capable, and two, we want to make sure that we find out, when we hit the Big Ten schedule, who are going to be the guys that are ready to roll?”

Will Rutgers return more kicks?

Between punts (10) and kick-offs (4), Rutgers returned a total of 14 kicks last season, which was tied with Louisiana-Monroe for the second-lowest total in the country, ahead only of Air Force (13).

In 2023, the Scarlet Knights returned 11 kicks, the lowest total in FBS football, per CFBStats.

While the Scarlet Knights are not changing their philosophy on special teams, those numbers could bump up given the talent they added to their roster this offseason.

Schiano said the Scarlet Knights plan to use multiple returners after last year’s starter Christian Dremel graduated, and two incoming transfers seem like the strongest candidates: wide receivers DT Sheffield and Dane Pardridge returned a combined 34 kicks for 386 yards last season at North Texas and Northern Illinois, respectively.

“I think we have guys that can do it, (and) it certainly does make you want to return it a little more for sure,” Schiano said. “We’re going to mix blocks, returns, kickoff returns. What we try to do, so you understand, is manage risk and manage opportunity.”

Alum returns to coaching staff

Isaiah Washington, a Jacksonville native played wide receiver at Rutgers for five seasons, returned to the program as a player development assistant.

Washington caught 74 passes for 927 yards and three touchdowns across 58 career games.

“We’re thrilled to have him back,” Schiano said.

Leadership selected

Rutgers voted for captains recently, and the results were four veteran players: quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, center Gus Zilinskas, defensive end Jordan Walker and linebacker Dariel Djabome.

Kaliakmanis is a two-time captain, meaning he has been voted a leader by his peers in each of his two seasons in Piscataway.

“Really proud of those guys,” Schiano said. “They’ve stepped up in a big day.”

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Brian Fonseca may be reached at [email protected].